All quotes from
Adam’s book
The hallmark of originality is rejecting the default and exploring
whether a better option exists…. The starting point is curiosity: pondering why
the default exists in the first place.
Practice makes perfect, but it doesn’t make new.
Originality is an act of creative destruction. Advocating for new systems often requires
demolishing the old way of doing things, and we hold back for fear of rocking
the boat.
To be an original, you need to take radical risks.
Originality is not a fixed trait. It is a free choice.
It’s only after we’ve ruled out the obvious that we have the
greatest freedom to consider the more remote possibilities.
Conviction in our ideas is dangerous not only because it leaves us
vulnerable to false positives, but also because it stops us from generating the
requisite variety to reach our creative potential.
In the face of uncertainty, our first instinct is often to reject
novelty, looking for reasons why unfamiliar concepts might fail.
As we gain knowledge about a domain, we become prisoners of our
prototypes.
When we diversify our knowledge base, we’re more likely to sample
original ideas and retrieve unconventional knowledge.
Our intuitions are only accurate in domains where we have a lot of
experience.
Intuitions are only trustworthy when people build up experience
making judgments in a predictable environment.
There’s a stable, robust relationship between the patterns you’ve
seen before and what you encounter today.
If we want to forecast whether the originators of a novel idea will
make it successful, we need to look beyond the enthusiasm they express about
their ideas and focus on the enthusiasm
for execution that they reveal through their actions.
Only when you believe your actions matter and care deeply will you
consider speaking up.
Middle-status conformity leads us to choose the safety of the
tried-and-true over the danger of the original.
Being original doesn’t require being first. It just means being
different and better.
The more strongly you identify with an extreme group, the harder you
seek to differentiate yourself from more moderate groups that threaten your
values.
When our character is praised, we internalize it as part of our
identities. Instead of seeing ourselves
as engaging in isolated moral acts, we start to develop a more unified
self-concept as a moral person.
Groupthink—the tendency to seek consensus instead of fostering
dissent. Groupthink is the enemy of
originality; people feel pressured to conform to the dominant, default views
instead of championing diversity of thought.
Confirmation bias: when you have a preference, you seek out
information supporting it, while overlooking information that challenges it.
The greatest shapers don’t stop at introducing originality into the
world. They create cultures that unleash originality in others.
Rather than trying to suppress a strong emotion, it’s easier to
convert it into a different emotion – one that’s equally intense, but propels
us to step on the gas.
If you want people to take risks, you need first to show what’s
wrong with the present.
Venting doesn’t work even if you think it does – and even if it
makes you feel good. The better you feel after venting, the more aggressive you
get: not only toward your critic, but also toward innocent bystanders.
One of the fundamental problems with venting is that it focuses
attention on the perpetuation of injustice.
The more you think about
the person who wronged you, the more violently you want to lash out in
retaliation.
When we’re angry at others, we aim for retaliation or revenge. But when we’re angry for others, we seek out
justice and a better system. We don’t
just want to punish; we want to help.
Instead of taking the status quo for granted, ask why it exists in
the first place.
Motivate yourself differently when you’re committed vs
uncertain. When you’re determined to
act, focus on the progress left to go – you’ll be energized to close the
gap. When your conviction falters, think
of the progress you’ve already made.
Having come this far, how could you give up now?
Ban the words like, love, and hate.… They make it too easy to give a
visceral response without analyzing it.
